


A Break in the Business

by Exemai



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Brief Internalised Homophobia, Brief suicidal thoughts, M/M, Songswriter Yosuke, but they're still there, he v creative we love him, i know i say no archive warnings but, it's also kinda an abrubt ending but deal, still deciding whether it be multichapter or not but for now here, the guys on the souyo server really liked it so;;;, theyre mentioned in passing and arent in detail at all, yeah haha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22090885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exemai/pseuds/Exemai
Summary: "This is a huge opportunity Yosuke," Yu tells him."Yosuke. You could get out of Junes."
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	A Break in the Business

Rise sighed, not-so-subtly gaining everyone's attention. "And what's got you sighing?" Kanji teased.

"The songwriter for my agency quit a few days ago, but I'm supposed to release a new song in a month. I don't know how to write songs!" Rise held her head and rested her elbows on the table.

Yosuke looked at the notes app on his phone. He may or may not have dabbled in songwriting when he felt particularly emotional. But this had all his emotions down, even ones he hadn't told Yu, but this is Risette's career we're talking about. Dejected, he handed the girl his phone.

"Here, Rise, if you like one, you can use it." The idol's eyes lit up as she read over the words. She told him that he could become famous of these lyrics, and asked if he was doubly sure if she could use one. "Of course you can, Rise, until you get a new songwriter that is." She squealed and hugged the boy.

"Thank you, Yosuke-senpai! Thank you!" She told the team that she was leaving to show the agency the set of lyrics. "I owe you one, senpai!" She waved and left in Inoue's car which arrived an hour later.

Once the car was out of sight, he huffed a sigh of relief. "So, Yosuke. You write songs, huh?" Chie smirked, side-eyeing the now on-edge teen. Surely, Yosuke thought, surely everyone who enjoys music has at least tried to write lyrics. It just so happened that an idol thought they were good... really good, apparently.

"What?" He argued, "Everyone dabbles at some point right? It's like you with your kung-fu moves." She admitted they were similar concepts, but then Yukiko joined the conversation and told him that she just couldn't imagine him sitting and writing them. "Because, I don't sit, Yukiko-san, I write them on the fly." 

"That's serious skill, Yosuke." Yu praised, "If Rise liked them that much then imagine how much her fans will like it." Yosuke nodded at the realisation, and smiled at his partner, thanking him. "I'm serious, by the sounds of it, you could be equal with Rise and Kanami on the charts." 

"You really think I'm that good, Yu? " Yosuke jokes, "Nah, besides, even if Rise likes them, we don't know if her agency is going to like them." They all gave him honest words of praise and hope before all splitting off and going home. "Hey, Yu, wanna come eat over at ours today? Dad says he still owes you for helping out last time, so I told him I'd ask."

"Sure, let me just call Nanako." Yosuke nodded as his partner prepared his phone, calling the house's landline.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Kujikawa, but as good as these lyrics are, we can't call them our own if someone else wrote them. We can't let you sing these lyrics." Rise huffed, clearly annoyed, she asked if there was anyway she could sing using these lyrics. "Unless you can get the author to work for us, there's no way." Rise smiled mischievously. Operation 'Get Yosuke Working for the Agency' is go!

"Yosuke-senpai," Rise called his name down the phone.

"Yeah?" He responded, not knowing what the girl has in store for him, based on her tone, nothing good.

"Will you work for the Agency and be my full time songwriter?" There was no answer on the other end, and Rise was sure she heard a thud and Teddie screaming in the background, so it made her jump when she heard Yu-senpai's voice speak in velvet next to her ear.

"Hey, Rise, what did you say to Yosuke? I'll pass it on and tell him it wasn't a dream... or nightmare." He chuckled, "One of the two." She giggled and repeated her request to Yu, thanking each other as they both hung up.

* * *

Yosuke woke in his bed... why did his head hurt? He didn't imagine the whole of yesterday, right? No that's not right either, the day hasn't changed. Yosuke groggily stood up from his bed and walked down the stairs. "Oh, I didn't realise you were still here, Partner, I'm sorry." Yu waved his apology away and invited him to sit down.

"Yosuke." Yu started. The boy panicked, "That call from Rise..." Yosuke paled. He loudly asked if the conversation was real and when Yu nodded, Yosuke didn't know what to do. His body was frozen, should he cheer? Scream? Faint again? "Yosuke this is the break you needed. You can get into the music business." Yu added onto the large list of positives that came with being a songwriter. "Yosuke. You could get out of JUNES." 

"But what would my dad say?" Yu told him not to worry about his parents. "Okay... what about you guys, I'd have to go to the city right? Where would I stay?" Yu told Yosuke of his apartment that he uses when his parents are away on long trips and produced a key.

A moment of comfortable silence passed between the boys. Mainly consisting of Yu smugly staring at Yosuke and him looking at Yu in awe. "Thanks, Partner." A warm smile spread across Yosuke's face. Yu watched as Yosuke's eyes flickered from his own, down to his lips and back.

"I should... probably call Rise back." Yu laughed, sarcastically telling him that it was a good idea.

"Yosuke-senpai! What do you say?" Yosuke looked to Yu and smiled, telling the girl that he'll do it. "Yes!" She cheered, "Look forward to doing business with you!" she laughed, before hanging up.

"I'm proud of you, you'll do great." Yu smiled.

"I better start packing." Yu smiled, helping him pack, and was there for Yosuke when he told them about moving into the city. They were hesitant at first, but seeing Yosuke all hyped up about something he enjoys melted his mother's heart, so she eagerly helped him pack. "She can be annoying sometimes." He laughed

"I like that about her, my mother wasn't around to help me pack, so seeing yours get excited is nice." Yu admitted, Yosuke knew that his Partner's parents weren't that great, but he never realised the extent of how much they neglected him. The lack of phone calls should have been a clear giveaway, really.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Yu dismissed the comment and helped Yosuke pack the few extra bits and pieces. The day when Yosuke would be leaving quickly arrived. Everyone was there to see him off. The Investigation Team were overwhelmed to say the least, more people than they expected turned up. Even Naoki shared his praise.

Some were genuinely here to say bye and good luck, although most were just here to see what the commotion was all about. Those who Yosuke didn't know all too well just said bye in unison before fading as quickly as they arrived. Those left included the Investigation Team. (Nanako and Dojima were there, obviously, at Nanako's strong request.)

"See you there, Partner." Yosuke gripped the key Yu had given him tightly. Yu nodded and surprised everyone present, Yu hugged Yosuke. This was a shock to everyone except the pair. Yu wasn't a very handsy person, so seeing him to boldly hug someone meant they were a big deal.

"What say we give them one last surprise?" Yu whispered, Yosuke, confused, raised an eyebrow making it clear. With a blush, Yosuke pressed his lips to Yu's, causing eruptions of confusion from the group.

Yosuke threw a peace sign and hopped onto the train as the doors began to close.

Rise had missed a lot while thinking of a melody, as she stood on the platform, waiting for the boy to pull in.

She received a text from Naoto as Yosuke pulled into the station. "Ahh!" She squealed, "Senpai!!" She leapt onto the boys arm. "You have Yu-senpai's key right? Let's go see it." She smiled.

Yosuke nodded and joined her. He slotted the key into the keyhole. "Yup, just like I expected," Rise giggled. "Not a spot of dust and not a single piece of unnecessary décor." 

"Heh, I didn't expect anything different." Yosuke smiled warmly, Rise smirked at the perfect segway into talking about 'difference' she asked Yosuke about how his partnership- she was really proud of her choice of words- with Yu was going. "Why are you asking? That was a terrible change of topic. We're not fighting if that's what you're asking." 

"No, no, no, rather the opposite, Naoto sent me an email," she smiled, "A kiss huh? I thought you weren't gay." Yosuke snarkily remarked telling her that technically, he wasn't gay. "So?" Her smile grew larger, "You're still dating a guy." 

After his blush calmed down, Yosuke asked the idol about the details of the job he'd been roped into. "Senpai, they loved your lyrics, but I can't sing them if they don't officially belong to the agency. So I thought to ask you to work... for the agency." She nervously chuckled, embarrassed for how it sounded aloud.

Yosuke laughed, "Thanks Rise, I mean it," Rise asked why he was thanking her, but the response she got was very Yosuke-esque "Just 'cuz" He smiled. They quickly hugged before Rise dragged him off to meet the agency's higher-ups.

"So you are the author of the lyrics Rise gave us?" They asked, sizing him up with judging stares. "You're fairly young to have written such high level lyrics." Yosuke's nervousness overtook him and shakily thanked them.

"Thank you?" Damn now Yosuke thought he should have stayed quiet, as they sized him up even more. 

"As we said, these are high class lyrics." They paused. "Hanamura, if you wish, we'd love to work with you." Rise squealed.

"You did it, senpai!" She jumped onto his arm, similar to how she did with Yu. "Though when it comes to music, I'm the senpai," giggling, she took the boy to the room he'd be waiting until they cleared out a room for a studio he could use.

"It's... Incredibly girly.." he stuttered. Rise told him that is was her waiting room, so of course it'll be girly. "No, I knew that, I just didn't think it'd be so... extroverted." Rise laughed.

"I asked for all of these, some of them out of my own pocket." Rise looked at all of the decorations with a warm smile, Yosuke could sense how much every item meant to her.

"This one," she reached for a small figurine of herself. "It was on sale during my first tour. I wanted a souvenir but I didn't know what to get." She rubbed her thumb over the plastic moulding of her hair. "They insisted that I just have the figure, from the gift shop, but eventually, they let me pay for it," 

Yosuke listened to how it became a tradition to get a new figurine or item from the gift shop after a big milestone. "That's... really nice, Rise." Rise huffed and returned to her normal aura, putting the figure back into its place.

"You should probably call Yu-senpai," she smiled. "I'll wait outside," Yosuke saw a wink from the idol as she left the room.

"Hey," Yu's voice echoed from the phone. Yosuke told him that he was in Rise's dressing room. "Look at you," the boy on the other line laughed. "At first you were a fan and now you're writing for her."

"Dude, you make it sound like Rise 'n' me are getting married." Yu laughed.

"The fans might think that, y'know." Yu replied. "How did the meeting with the higher ups go, anyway?"

"Oh, dude, it was terrifying." Yosuke paled. "I felt like they were staring at my soul." Yu asked if their stares were that bad "Of course they were that bad! They have to size people up like that you know." Rise entered the room again, curving her fingers in a beckoning motion. "I gotta go, talk to you later." 

"See you later, Yosuke." The brunet hung up. 

"Come on Yosuke-senpai, I'm on soon, you gotta be there!" Yosuke freaked, asking why he had to be there. "You gotta make your debut official!" She beamed.

"Hi everyone!" She laughed. "Before I sing my new song, I want to show you my new songwriter! You might remember from the LMB Fest, please welcome my friend, Yosuke!" The audience applauded and cheered as the boy shyly walked onto the stage.

"H-hi, everyone!" He spoke into the microphone and everyone screamed with a warm welcome.

"Go on, Yosuke-senpai," The audience seemed to enjoy the fact that Risette called her new writer 'senpai'. She giggled, "Say something about yourself,"

"Well, before I lived in Inaba, I lived in the city." He went onto say how much their group of friends means to him, how he and Rise met, when she went missing (ignoring a few obvious details) and how they and others became a friend group.

"You wanna meet them?!" Rise asked, riling up the audience shocking Yosuke. "Come on guys!" At her cue, the entire Investigation Team walked out onto the stage. 

The audience cheered once they recognised it was everyone from the LMB fest. Yosuke looked at Yu in shock, it may have only been a few hours since he left Inaba but he still ran up to Yu as if he hadn't seen him for months.

He flung his arms around Yu's neck who immediately reciprocated by bringing him in by his waist. "I can't believe you're here, you idiot!" 

"I did say 'see you later'," Yu smiled, Yosuke pulled back, not letting go of his shoulders before telling him that Yu knew that wasn't what he meant. 

"When did you...?"

"Inoue came to get us as soon as he dropped you and Rise off. Kanami sent me a text saying that he was on his way." Yosuke looked backstage to the girl in glasses who waved shyly. 

"What do you all think?" Rise addressed the audience after introducing everyone again, saying her hellos. "Think we should all dance one more time?" The noise level of their cheering was something they had never heard before, on such a large scale anyway.

Rise looked at the team to make sure it was okay with everyone, and they all give each other a few exchanged glances and nods. "Kanami get changed and get out here, we need you too!" And once she joined the stage, "Hit it!"

They all danced like they did that night inside the TV, all smiles, giving their all into every movement. The team spare Rise wasn't dressed for the occasion, (Kanji was wearing jeans... Jeans.) But they didn't let it stop them.

After the dance was done, and the team were a tired lump of teenagers, they all left, spare Yu, Yosuke and Rise. 

Yu was on his way to leave, bit turned around last minute to give a quick peck to Yosuke's cheek. He laughed at how beet red he got, and waved goodbye to the cheering audience at his action. ("So they won't think that you might date their favourite Idol" he chuckled)

There was a couple people booing and throwing slurs but Rise quickly addressed the situation passive-aggressively asking them to stop with the threat of removal and blacklisting.

The cheers died and Yosuke was given the mic back, "So those were our friends, and we've all been stuck to the hip with each other after Naoto joined." He told them that when Rise asked for help with lyrics he couldn't just sit there when he had the chance to help her, after everything they've been through.

"You all wanna hear the song?" It was a stupid question and they knew it, but nothing worked more to get the audience riled up.

Yosuke stepped out the way of the stage and went back to Rise's waiting room, where the IT all were, watching the performance on the TV implemented there.

They didn't notice Yosuke walk in, they were too invested in the song she was singing and commenting on how well the song Yosuke write worked with the melody Rise came up with.

As if it were any surprise, Yu was the first to notice he was there, standing with a soft smile and a weak blush on his face. "Yosuke? Are you okay?"

He was shocked into awareness, "O-Oh, yeah I'm fine, I didn't know you all like Rise's song that much."

"You idiot," Chie smiled, "You wrote the thing, it's as much your song as it is her's." Yosuke smiled, thanking her, he never thought of it like that, it's.. kind of soothing to know he's getting all his feelings out there, recognised and therefore validated by millions who love Rise's songs.

He has more.... Darker songs in his repertoire but he thinks he might save them for himself, he has enough lighter ones to keep Rise going until he can think of more.

They all headed back to the apartment that Yu's lending Yosuke for a while and Yu makes a large meal for them all to enjoy in Rise and Yosuke's success.

Inoue offers to drive them all home, but Yu decided to stay, it is his apartment after all, he offers a futon or two for those who want to stay but they all suggest on going home. Yu and Yosuke bid them a safe journey home.

Yosuke starts wrapping up the leftovers, he can reheat those for tomorrow's dinner, when Yu asks to see his other songs. "Uhh.." Yosuke stutters.

"You don't have to if you're uncomfortable with it, I'm just curious." Yu gives the boy a soft squeeze of his arm.

"No it.. it's okay, they're on the notes app on my phone. You know the code right?" Yu laughs.

"Yeah, the release date of that Nickelback album you have," Yosuke spluttered, he only told Yu a series of numbers he didn't realise Yu'd connect the dots to their meaning. Yosuke didn't answer him when he laughed at his reaction.

Yosuke studied the boy's face when he read through all the feelings that Yosuke never told anyone put into words. When Yu furrowed his brow and started to read a bit quicker Yosuke knew he was reading the more darker of the songs he has.

"This one here," he pauses, reciting some of the lyrics, "all these songs are about your feelings right?" Yosuke nodded cautiously, and to his reaction, Yu set the phone down and brought the boy closer, so now Yosuke was sat on his lap, (blushing tremendously, as you'd expect). "I am so sorry..." He whispers into his neck.

Yosuke pauses, "What? Yu.. Partner, no. That song isn't about me hating you." Yosuke pales, "okay, so out of context that does look like a bad line but look at it as a whole verse."

_ I didn't expect to feel this way _

_ I was told these feelings are bad _

_ I want, yet I don't, to make you go away _

_ So then without my emotions, these feelings I'll never have. _

"It's about me, trying to figure out why I like you and how to make it stop." Yu looked up at him. "It was all an internal battle thing. Look, the next lines." 

_ I should just rip out the heart _

_ And watch the beating stop _

_ And with the passing of time _

_ I will too. _

"I was struggling bad, Partner. There was nothing you could have done, I wouldn't have believed it." 

"When did you write this one?" Yu asked him, noting that the 'Last Edited' tag marked quite a few months ago.

"I first had the idea for it soon after Kanji's dungeon." Yu pulled him tighter, Yosuke reciprocated, pulling Yu's head closer to his neck.

"I'm better," he told Yu, "Much better. I promise. I don't feel like that anymore." 

"Tell me if you do?" Yu asked, Yosuke nodded, now they're technically a couple (Yosuke hopes, they haven't made anything official yet) Yu will be the first person he goes to. Yu pulled back and brought Yosuke's head down and brought their lips together.

"Come on," Yosuke mumbles, "We.. we need to get the bed set up for us." 

"Yosuke," Yu grips his wrist as he starts standing up off his lap, "I'm proud of you." 

Yosuke beamed, "thanks Partner, here's to more successful songs," he was the one to give Yu a kiss and dragged him to set up the bed for them

About half an hour later, Yosuke is being spooned by Yu and the last thing he hears is a warm mumble of 'I love you,'. Yosuke smiles, presses his lips to Yu's knuckles, and says the same, laughing when he feels Yu dig his hair into the back of his neck.

The next morning, Yosuke has an influx of emails from other companies asking them to write their idols' songs. He thinks this may not be such a bad idea after all, in the long run.

Fin


End file.
